Brown shirts and officers from the HS-7 Dusty Dogs prepare their Seahawks for service in anticipation of a busy day. (Photos by Lance M. Bacon)

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Scoop Deck is hanging out on Vulture’s Row, watching the crew ramp up for the day’s business before we catch the COD. Though we’ve spent only a few short hours with this crew, it is not hard to understand why they are back-to-back Battle E winners.

These sailors and officers will soon cover more than 40,000 nautical miles as they head to Fifth Fleet for combat operations. There’s no way of knowing what’s in store. But the last time Truman sailed the Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf, it launched and recovered more than 15,300 fixed and rotary wing aircraft. Carrier Air Wing 3 flew more than 26,500 hours during 9,500 sorties, 2,459 of which were combat sorties. The air wing flew nearly 14,000 combat hours and expended 77,500 pounds of ordnance.

The crew expects more of the same, and expects to return somewhere around the 10th anniversary of the ships’ maiden deployment

About Author

A Navy brat who spent eight years in the Marines (two years aboard the carrier Independence). Worked in journalism in Eastern North Carolina through the latter part of the 90s, then became editor of Air Force Times in 2000. Stayed there five years, then took a break to finish some school. Now back in the game with Navy Times.